I don't care for rice pasta, but most mixed grain GF pasta I've tasted has been acceptable. If you're interested in going a little farther afield, Tolerant brand has pastas made from legumes, rather than grains. I've only tried the black bean and red lentil. They also have green lentil, chickpea and rice, black bean and pea, and maybe some others. The red lentil tastes more like wheat pasta, but the black bean has a nuttiness more like whole wheat does, and a general blackbeaniness. It's a favorite of mine!

It does take more attention to cook than hard durum. It goes from not cooked through to over cooked and disgusting very quickly. I usually cook the black bean to just a little crunch in the middle still, and it finishes cooking in the colander. YMMV.

I think the black bean pasta would be gorgeous in a pasta salad. Maybe not for the more hidebound. You could mix the black bean and red lentil for a Halloween look, too.

Tried a red lentil pasta from TJ's. It was nasty.

A lot of the GF pastas have inulin in it which leads to stomach upset in a lot of people according to my nutritionist acquaintance. I ate it once and haven't forgotten the pain.

I would make just make regular pasta or make a yummy rice based salad instead. Or maybe an Asian based rice vermicelli pasta? (Make sure you use tamari instead of soy sauce though).

I have also found that people who are celiac tend to not eat at parties because of the risk of contamination. I am new to being strict GF and just eat before I go anywhere.

Many of the fake GF products cause stomach pain just like glutenin my experience. Tapioca starch, inulin, sorghum flour all can cause GI distress and worse.

Cleo07, that's interesting. I use tapioca starch to thicken pies, as my mother always did, and have made whole cakes with sorghum flour. As far as I know, no one had a reaction. Is it something that people with Celiac disease are more likely to suffer?

CindyMac, I haven't had the TJs, but I wonder if it's like the Tolerant, where if not stopped before it's overcooked (way less time than wheat pasta, and also less tender), it gets nasty. I ask because the red lentil is a favorite of a friend of mine.

If only a couple of people have an issue with gluten, I would use regular pasta.
If you really want to include the Gluten free folks, make some of that black bean corn tomato red onion salad....often called cowboy caviar....or just take a can of 3 bean salad.
But don't have most of the people eating something that they don't like for the convenience of just a couple.

Barilla (an Italian brand) makes excellent GF pasta, if it's available there. It tastes just like regular pasta.

My daughter is celiac, as is my aunt, and neither seem to have a problem with tapioca or sorghum, so it may be one of those less common "individual" things. They are both lactose intolerant also, and that is something that has been found to be common in celiac sufferers.

I've tried every gluten free pasta made, I think. Some are better than others, and some are just awful. All of the bean/lentil ones taste like...well...beans, probably because that's what they are made of. Since I like beans it's not a problem for me but some other family members (like Amanda's husband, Dave) does find that to be a problem. So I go to the grocery store and buy the Barilla gluten free pasta. By the time I sauce it, I can't tell the difference. (shrug) It's paste, basically, and only tastes like whatever is put on it anyway. I've taken macaroni salad, baked ziti and "lasagna" made with the gluten free Barilla to family outings and not a single person could tell the difference between that and any other of the dried pastas.

Now, if you're talking homemade pasta, that's a different animal altogether...

Annie

I'd make a pasta dish and a courgetti dish. It tastes very good and the texture is surprisingly like pasta too! I just pour a kettle of boiling water over it.

pillog-I guess since I am susceptible and one of my friends is as well, I hear more about it I guess. I am at the point where I follow the 10 Day Detox diet all the time; so I have more than just gluten intolerance. And I gravitate to recipe boards with other like minded people since I search out recipes without that stuff. I do use tapioca in my pies as well and the lower amount seems fine but when a bread or pasta has a lot of it, it's unbearable for me (and others around me:)

LeVenneziane is the best according to daughter that has Celiac disease. No one knew the difference on a holiday meal.

I love Schar. Made with rice. OK for all but the very most sensitive people.

Thank you all for the info and insight.

I think I'll try the barilla gf...it's made with rice and corn so hopefully it should be ok, and I understand it's supposed to taste like regular pasta...

Quinoa pasta is pretty good, and healthy too.

I love black bean pasta, but all the varieties available locally come from China, so I try to restrain myself.

Writersblock, can't you get one of the local stores to get Tolerant brand for you?

Agreed that black bean pasta tastes like beans and lentil pasta tastes like lentils. But they're good. :) Also agreed that it's hard to tell good GF grain pasta from wheat white pasta. Whole wheat is another story, but isn't great in pasta salad anyway. :)

Cleo, thanks for the response. I sometimes have to cook for Celiac sufferers so was particularly interested. Inulin is often a problem for people with FODMAP issues, and while they generally don't have problems with gluten, there are FODMAPs in the same grains that have gluten, so it amounts to the same thing when you're talking recipes. I'm not surprised that you find them clumped together.

Writersblock, can't you get one of the local stores to get Tolerant brand for you?

No, alas. Publix as a chain used to be very responsive to requests like that, but since Mr. Publix died several years ago, they won't even order in stuff that's already in the local distribution center. They pretend, but just tell you that whatever it is is unavailable in our area, even if the Publix across town carries it.

I'm gluten free and I've tried about 13 brands of pasta that's GF. My absolute FAVORITE is tinkyada!! It almost tastes like normal pasta, at least to me. Barrila I don't like, it's not tender enough and doesn't taste very good. If you can't find Tinkyada (you can find it on Vitacost and I found it at my local Sprouts) I suggest Live Gfree.

That's awful, Writersblock! I once had the manager at a small chain near me offer to drive to the one across town where they had the thing I needed to get it for me in time. I found something different to use, but I appreciate the willingness. There's always Amazon...

My mom gets corn pasta that is good. Warm only though. Gets a weird texture in the fridge.

basilcook, I guess it shows that taste really is objective, not subjective. My daughter HATES the LiveGfree pasta.

The varieties available in my small town are LiveGfree, Barilla, Ronzoni, Ancient Harvest and a refrigerated type called Three Bridges, as well as the "store brand", called "True Goodness". That's pretty much like Barilla/Ronzoni, but more expensive. No one liked the Ancient Harvest stuff. Annie's has some box mixes, like mac and cheese, which we haven't tried. Tinkyada is only available on-line here, along with any brand of lasagna noodles.

I am not celiac, nor gluten sensitive, but I'm not really a fan of pasta either. I can't tell the difference between the gluten free Barilla and the regular Barilla/Ronzoni/Muellers/Prince/etc. dried varieties unless it's overcooked, at which point it becomes a shapeless mass of mush.

Annie

Annie's has some box mixes, like mac and cheese, which we haven't tried

It's…okay. I think the main problem is that the cheese sauce tastes like actual cheese came near it at some point, which makes it not a good sub for the Kraft kind. The pasta is like any other rice pasta.

ROTFLOL!!! That reminds me of the definition of a truly dry martini: Gin poured in front of a picture of Mt. Vesuvius. :)

I agree with Annie the taste is subjective. I prefer the slight "bite" of Barilla. I don't want squidgy pasta :-P. In restaurants, I can always tell if they're using Barilla pasta (if they're not making their own :-) ).

I made the salad with the barilla, and most of it went at the party, so I guess it was ok... but then again the party was so large, no one would know who to complain to if they didn't like it! :)